The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, working with the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), has stepped up efforts to attract investors to the bitumen sector as part of the Federal Government’s attempts to restrict the importation of bitumen into Nigeria.
With 42 billion barrels of projected bitumen reserves, Nigeria ranks sixth globally.
The NGSA announced that it has started a data-gathering effort to produce more information to improve the appeal of the bitumen blocks and advance its development at a PricewaterhouseCoopers and Federal Ministry of Mines and Steel Development Bitumen Concession event.
Dr Abdulrazaq A. Garba, the Director-General/CEO of NGSA, stated during the presentation of his paper that a variety of exploration activities had been conducted throughout the entire Dahomey basin, with a recalculated study area of 225 x 19 Km2 stretching from west of Ijebu in Ogun State to Siluko area at the edges of the western Niger Delta, all within the Cretaceous Abeokuta group. He said that they were found in four states: Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, and Edo, with an estimated 16 to 42 billion barrels being found in Ondo.
The Ministry of Mines and Steel Development awarded PwC a letter of award on November 11, 2021, designating the company to serve as its transaction adviser and programme manager for the selection of bidders for the development of Nigeria’s delineated bitumen blocks. This was stated by the PwC team lead for mining practice, Cyril Azobu, in his opening remarks.
“The scope of the PwC mandate will ensure that, given the uniqueness and peculiarities of the exploration, development, and extraction of Bitumen, only suitably qualified local and international investors with pre-requisite experience, technological expertise and financial capacity are selected to carry-out bitumen development to a meaningful extraction-level, through a transparent and competitive procurement process as enshrined in the Nigerian
Mineral and Mining Act, 2007 and in line with global best industry practices,” he said, adding that the entire process would be concluded by November 2022.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, said the Federal Government had identified the mining sector as one of the strategic industries for rapid growth and development.
“The FGN, through the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development (MMSD), intends to competitively tender delineated bitumen blocks in Nigeria to potential investors for the exploration, development and production of bitumen resources,” he said.
